Monkeys and Hats: Prop Story

Story: The Hat-seller and the Monkeys
Based on The Hatseller and the Monkeys retold by Baba Wague Diakite as well as Caps for Sale retold by Esphyr Slobodkina

Need:
-fabric in orange
-construction paper in various colors: shades of brown, white
-hot glue and glue sticks
-cupcake paper cups (hat)
-beads (top of hat)
-paper towel tube
-a felt board

Participation Age Range: 18 months to 8 years old

Method: Have monkeys lined up on a ledge or stacks of books. Have all the hats stacked onto the hat-seller. May wish to use hat-seller figure as a finger puppet. Have the kids mimic like the monkeys.
Optional: May wish to place tree on felt story.

 

Story:
BaMusa loves making and selling hats. He wanders from town to town with the hats he made stacks one on top of the other.
He decides to rest under a tree. While he is sleeping, monkeys sneak down and steal the hats.
When BaMusa wakes up and realizes what happens he tries to get his hats back from an assortment of measures: yelling, shaking fist, stamping feet, etc. The monkeys merely copy whatever he does.
Frustrated, he takes the single hat that remains on his head and throws it to the ground– the monkeys copy that– and the hatseller gets his hats back.

Skills: fine motor skills, Social Studies: Africa

Themes: Africa, Monkeys, Clothing, Hats, Selling, Making, Anger